On January 15, 2020, Federal OSHA announced an increase to the maximum penalty an employer can be issued for violations. OSHA annually increases its penalty amounts to adjust for inflation as mandated by the Federal Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act of 1990 and as amended by the Federal
Civil Penalties Inflation Adjustment Act Improvements Act of 2015 (Inflation Adjustment Act). The Inflation Adjustment Act requires OSHA to annually adjust its civil money penalty levels for
inflation no later than January 15 of each year. The increase for 2020 is 1.8 percent.
The new penalty levels will apply to all violations occurring after January 15, 2020. The following chart compares penalties in effect January 23, 2019 to the new penalties effective January 15, 2020:
For more information on OSHA compliance requirements, please contact SGIA’s Government Affairs Department at govtaffairs@sgia.org.